This invention relates to a support structure designed to be advantageously installed on a bicycle or on another vehicle to support persons by means of a seat surface.
Support structures of the prior art, as represented in particular by bicycle saddles, are generally formed from a rigid or semi-rigid frame which constitutes the lower portion of the support structure and is designated by the technical term xe2x80x9cshell,xe2x80x9d and padding which is fixed to the upper part of the shell and is preferably made of expanded elastomer material. The support structure is conventionally connected to the frame of the vehicle by appropriate fastening means that are located on the lower portion of the shell.
With particular reference to the bicycle sector, as is well known, it is necessary to construct comfortable saddles, i.e., saddles that provide a comfortable seat that allows the rider to sit comfortably on the saddle.
For this purpose, special upholstery materials made of textiles, animal skins or other materials have been designed to cover the padding, and damping devices have been interposed between the frame of the vehicle and the saddle which absorb or reduce at least some of the vibrations caused by the roughness of the ground.
To improve the comfort of the user (and in particular of the cyclist), saddles have recently been developed that use a padding consisting of a plurality of layers of materials with different elasticity (including gels), located as appropriate in the various areas of the seat surface. In these realizations of the prior art, there is an improvement in the distribution of pressures over the entire seat surface of the saddle, which improves the comfort of the cyclist, or in general of the user of the vehicle in the event that the vehicle is a motorcycle, for example, or another means of transport.
However, all these solutions, while they improve the comfort of the cyclist compared to saddles of a more conventional type, do not take sufficient account of another factor that has a significant and determining effect on the comfort of the cyclist""s seat, which is the fact that the saddle becomes hot.
Numerous experimental tests have in fact shown that as a result of the action of friction due in particular to the pedaling motion of the cyclist, the seat becomes significantly hotter, and its temperature increases to the point where it is no longer very comfortable for the rider. This fact not only discourages the rider from spending extended periods of time on the saddle, but also promotes irritation and/or excessive perspiration.
Currently, as noted above, the problem of the heating of the saddle has not been solved in any satisfactory manner. Essentially, the prior art discloses two different solutions for the realization of saddles that provide the possibility of ventilation of the seat surface.
A first solution is disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,205, in which ventilation means are present to force a flow of air through openings made in the surface of the seat of the saddle. This solution is excessively complex, time-consuming and expensive, on account of the need for numerous structural components, including a power supply system for the operation of the ventilation means. This solution also increases the weight of the saddle, not to mention the time and cost involved in the maintenance of the power supply for the ventilation means. A saddle of this type also takes a great deal of time to produce. All of these disadvantages have a negative effect on the output of the production process, which requires the assembly of the various components that form the saddle.
A second solution which attempts to provide a ventilation effect on the seat surface is disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,083. This second solution of the prior art requires the use of a cover to be installed on top of the saddle, which provides cover with an anterior aperture that communicates with a plurality of channels and is elastically flexible so that it conforms to the seat surface.
Functionally, as is known, when the cyclist is seated on the saddle, the above referenced channels are generally closed on the extremities to create a damping action as a result of the air compressed inside them. This damping function is performed when the upper aperture of the channels is blocked by the cyclist""s body, while the lower opening presses directly on the surface of the saddle. Nevertheless, the resulting ventilation action is generally not very great. In particular, the lack of conduits that are capable of transporting the air in the aperture of the cover to the openings makes this second solution of little practical benefit for the ventilation of the seat surface.
One of the objects of the present invention is to eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art described above by making available a support structure for a vehicle, in particular a bicycle, which makes it possible to affect the temperature of its seat surface and to make the support structure more comfortable.
Another object of this invention is in particular to realize a support structure that makes it possible to dissipate at least some of the heat that is generated in contact with its user.
Another object of this invention in particular, is a support structure that makes it possible to ventilate the various parts of the seat surface in a differentiated manner.
An additional object of this invention is to realize a support structure that has a simple construction and is extremely reliable in operation.
These objects and others are all achieved by the support structure of the present invention, which comprises an upper side with a seat surface and is characterized by the fact that it comprises an air intake component that is oriented at least partly in the direction of forward travel of the vehicle and at least one air distribution channel connected to the air intake means, and is provided with at least one air discharge opening to ventilate the seat surface as the vehicle moves forwardly. This invention improves the comfort of the support structure in a simple and reliable manner.